Nagoya University Library Guide Sheet 4. Search for articles (by Subject)

April 1, 2024

4‐3E Let's search MEDLINE (EBSCOhost edition) using MeSH
Medical Science, Life Science Fields
MEDLINE is a worldwide database of medical and life science fields created and provided by U. S. National
Library of Medicine. It contains bibliographic information oｆ around 5,600 journals from more than 80
countries in the world published after 1947 (some data is even older). You can search for bibliographic
information (title, author, journal title, and abstract) using keywords for medical terms, authors, title, etc.

＜How to Access＞
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※Please open the library web page https://www.nul.nagoya-u.ac.jp/.
Click on [Databases] under ”Electronic Resources (For Members)” in the ”Search Resources” section.
On the ”Database Guide Page”, click on [MEDLINE].
If the authentication screen is displayed, enter your THERS account and password (multi-factorauthentication).
※ In this sheet, it is explained how to search using MeSH, a distinctive feature of MEDLINE search.

＜What is MeSH？＞
MeSH is Medical Subject Headings; it is a glossary of controlled terms, related to life science. This will allow
searching without leakage regardless of the words written in the title or abstract therefore, finding more
appropriate resources.
＊For example, in case of word “cancer”, there are words with the same meaning but
different expression (“cancer”, “carcinoma”, “neoplasm”, etc.). Using terms set by MeSH,
you can search for resources related to word “cancer” without leakage.
expressions in article
CancerCarcinoma⇒
Neoplasm

MeSH
MeSH search

MEDLINE keyword⇒

Neoplasms＜MeSH Term＞
It is a word which unifies numerous expressions such as synonyms or thesaurus into one representative word.
It makes it possible to avoid search leakage and noise resulted from words with many different expressions＜Searching MeSH＞
There are two methods for searching for MeSH. After entering a keyword, MeSH terms that match thekeyword and MeSH terms related will be displayed.

B Search based on subject terms
A Search from the MeSH search box

A. Search from the MeSH search box

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Click [MeSH] in the blue box at the top of the page to enter the MeSH search interface
Input keywords in the search box
Select the following options and click [Search] to view the MeSH search results[Term Begins With][Term Contains][Relevancy Ranked]

B. Search based on subject terms
1. Select [Suggest Subject Terms]
2. Input subject terms in the search box and click [Search] to view the search results

＜Search Results＞
If you check a box before MeSH term, that term added to search term, and available subheadings will be
displayed. If you checked the necessary box/es and clicked [Search Database], articles matching thecriteria will be searched. Also, if click on MeSH term itself Tree View screen will be displayed.

B C DE↑Check the MeSH and otherconditions are displayed

AFSearch Examples
Database：MEDLINE→Searching MeSH
Search terms： lung cancer
Ranked by: Relevancy

A. Relevant MeSH (Medical Subject Headings)
B. By Checking the “Expand (+) ”box, you can search for narrower terms (subheadings) in addition tothe term itself (using tree display, you can specify the subheadings to search).
C. By checking the “Major Concept” box, only papers where the term is the main theme will be searched.
D. Clicking on the “Scope” bubble will display the meaning and usage of the MeSH term.
E. To limit by subheading, check the subheading(s) you wish to use.
F. Search using mere keywords without using MeSH.

＜Tree View of MeSH＞
If click on MeSH term,
broader terms
narrower termsof MeSH term will be expanded.
From Tree View screen you can also search
for articles by selecting subheading, set[extensions(+)] and [major concepts].

If click on [+], more of narrower terms will be displayed.
broader terms↑
narrower terms↓

Useful tools for searching articles related to Medical and Life science fields.
PubMed ： Database based on MEDLINE data which provides free articles information on Medical field.
⇒ Please refer to Guide Sheet 4-6E “Let’s search PubMed”
Cochrane ： The collection of Medical field Database provided by EBSCOhost.
Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
Cochrane Methodology Register, Cochrane Clinical Answers⇒ Please refer to Guide Sheet 4-0E “Let’s search EBSCOhost”